


Arcana Mermaid Chronicles

by MakoDragon



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Attempt to keep Reader Gender Neutral, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Multi, Reader was a human turned into a Mermaid, Romance, mermaid!au, one shots, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-11-01 09:19:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17864669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MakoDragon/pseuds/MakoDragon
Summary: Mermaid!Au for the Arcana. Does not follow the story in the Visual novel itself.You only wanted some herbs yet now you were there.Every chapter(Except the 1st one) is a one shot featuring one of the characters who in their respective chapters are responsible for saving the reader.





	1. Chapter 1

Deep you sank, so very deep into the cold stormy waters. You should have never trusted those people. Needing a ship to cross the treacherous sea in hopes of procuring a herb that could only be obtained on lands beyond the sea you had asked around in the harbor town’s tavern only to be approached by a group of seemingly harmless people.

They introduced themselves as a group of travelling merchants known as the Rowdy Ravens and claimed to be on a journey to gather new kinds of food to spread to the public. Having heard you ask around for a ship they invited you to join them as they were planning on crossing the sea anyways.

" We have a spare room on the ship so it wouldn't be a bother at all." One of them had said to you. It looked like a good idea at the time but something in your gut was telling you not to so you were a little on the fence regarding the matter.  That didn't last long however as one of the members spoke up. " The next ship isn't going to sail until next week so it's either come with us or wait another week.."

Not having a lot of choice you accepted.

That was the biggest mistake you had ever made while travelling in search of herbs. During the third night on the ship they had taken you by surprise, sneaking into your room as the storm outside raged on and restraining you. When asking why they would do that they simply said that you looked like you had some interesting things they could sell and then they threw you into the stormy waters.

The cold seeped into your bones as you slowly felt yourself sink deeper and deeper. You struggled against the rope tying your hands and legs together but to no avail. The rope was secured with several knots ensuring that you wouldn’t be able to break free on your own. Not that you had enough time to do so to begin with as the pressure the water put on you as you sank lower made it harder and harder to hold your breath.

 _“/So this is it…. This is how I die…/”_ You thought, smiling to yourself as you thought back to how you got into that situation in the first place. _“/ Should’ve listened to Mom ‘Never ever go with the first people that offer you a ride. Big chance that they will either rob you, kill you or both…’ Sorry for being an idiot… I should’ve listened Mom./”_

The pressure on your chest increased, your oxygen running low as your vision blurred. The dark waters closed in on you, holding you in their cold embrace as your life left your body and your vision grew even darker. The last thing you saw was a shimmering, scaly tail.

 

A/N: Short chapter I know but it's meant to be a small intro chapter. ONTO the stuff you came here for!


	2. Asra Tail 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asra is the one that saved you!

 

Approaching you, the being with the shimmering light blue tail looked you over. His white hair contrasting and complimenting his skin as did his purple eyes. A gold choker and a blue necklace resting against his skin.

“ This is no good… You’ll die at this rate.” With a sigh he took you in his arms, listening to your soft heartbeat. Though faint, it was still there. You were still clinging to life.

A smile formed on their face. “I’ve heard your wish..” He took hold of the clear quartz pendant hanging from a leather string around your neck muttering some words into it as the two of you began to glow a bright white light.

Your legs were traded for a white shimmering mermaid tail, four scales decorating each of your sides and just behind your ears. Your internal works had been adjusted accordingly as well as to enable you to function underwater.

To check if the information was complete the other listened for your heartbeat hearing it slowly stabilize and seeing your chest rising steadily as well as ridding you of your restraints “ Good.. now to get you to a safe place to recover.” He nodded, swimming off with you in his arms. “ Wouldn’t want the humans to find you in this state after all..”

For several hours he swam through the depths of the dark sea until he finally what seemed to be a seabed.  Making sure he hadn’t be followed he looked around before placing his hand on a rock, muttering a couple of words so softly even he could hardly hear it.

Part of the seabed seemed to shift as it slowly faded, revealing a hole that led even further down. Wasting no time, he swam in, the hole closing back up after the two of you were inside. The hole was deep with many twists until finally he came out in what seemed to be an underwater town.

“…Just a little further.” He spoke to your sleeping form as he made his way home through the backstreets, not fond of the idea of drawing attention to himself at that moment seeing as he was holding an unconscious stranger..

His house, however humble looking from the outside had a cozy yet mystical look on the inside( Yes the shop from the game). “I’m home.” He spoke, laying you down on the nearby bed as a pale blue/grayish  red eyed water Moccasin slithered over to Asra. “ Hello Faust.”

 _“New Friend?”_ The snake spoke, not familiar with the stranger that her master had brought home. “ In a way Faust. I found them on my way back home… I couldn’t leave them there. They would’ve drowned.”

 _“Human?”_ Faust tilted their head in a curious fashion seeing as you even had a tail. Knowing her master it was easy to figure out what he had done. _“Trouble!”_

“ I know I know Faust. I’ll get in trouble for having done that but that was the only way to save them. So this will be our little secret. “ He smiled and winked at the snake who simply nodded her small head before slithering onto your stomach to watch over you while her master made his way to the kitchen.

Not long after, a pleasantly sweet scent made it’s way out of the kitchen and over to you. It was so pleasant it woke you from your slumber and the first thing you saw were two small red eyes staring right at you. “ A snake?” Looking again you saw her raise her small head” H…Hi?”

 _“Awake!”_ The eel spoke, slithering around your wrist to give you a loving squeeze. “Oh our guest is awake?” Looking up you saw a white haired male emerge from one of the doorways, holding two cups. “ Ah, looking a lot better than before..” The male smiled and swam over. It was then you noticed he had a tail instead of legs and so did you. “ Mermaid….. Wait WHAT?!?”

The white tail laid where your legs were supposed to be, clearly attached to you. “ Oh… what.. what did.. What happened? How?” Your mind was trying to wrap itself around the fact that instead of a pair of legs you had a white sparkly scaled tail. Seeing you on the verge of panic the white haired mermaid sat down besides you. “Calm down, I found you on my way back home and tried to keep you alive but had I kept you human you would have died.”

Frowning you stared at the scales on your tail, running your hands over it to reconfirm that it was indeed _your_ tail. “ I see.. so there was really no other option….. “ Seeing the pained look on your face he handed you one of the  cups he was holding. “ Here drink this, it will make you feel better.. if only a little.”

Nodding you took the cup from him, silently taking a sip from it. The honey sweet liquid ran down your throat, spreading a cozy comfortable feeling throughout your body, calming your nerves to a certain extent. “Oh.. this is very nice.. Thank you. “ You smiled at the other holding your hand out to him as you introduced yourself. The man took it, gently shaking it. “ That’s a nice name, my name is Asra and we’re at my house/ shop. Now… as I am the one who saved you but also turned you into one of us… I am responsible for you.. so I have a suggestion but first I would like to know what happened that you ended up sinking to the bottom of the sea?”

Frowning you sighed. It would only be fair to tell him how it happened even though it wasn’t a nice thing to tell. With a nod you began to explain how you were on your way to another continent to gather herbs that were native to those lands and subsequently got duped by corrupt merchants that stopped at nothing to get interesting new items that they could sell for a high price. “ It could have been a lot worse though. They could have decided to sell me as a slave so just tying me up and tossing me in the sea wasn’t that bad. “ You joked, still trying to cope with the fact that you nearly got drowned, got saved by a mermaid and turned into one of them.

Asra listened, his eyebrow slightly raised as he saw Faust slither around your neck to get comfy. A small smile formed on his lips seeing her trust you and feel at ease so much as to actually take a nap while wrapped around your neck. “ You will live here and in return you assist me around the shop.. how does that sound? I will also educate you regarding the use of your tail, the history of our people and other things. All that I ask is that you become my assistant”

“What does being your assistant entail?” It sounded like a good offer but having been burned before by being too naïve you decided to ask him for details first before giving him an answer. “ Right it would only be fair to ask before agreeing.. I run a store that specializes in tarot readings and some magical solutions.. I would like to take you in not just as my assistant but also my apprentice…. When I monitored your condition I came to the discovery that you have an aptitude for magic.. quite a good one too..”

“Well… I’ve always been able to sense magic but I was never allowed to use magic, save for amplifying the healing abilities of some herbs for salves, ointments and so on…..Just like that drink you gave me.” Hearing your witty remark Asra chuckled and shook his head. “ So you knew already. Good you’ve got a good base to start…if you want that is.” He held his hand out to you which you took and shook again. “ Well then Teacher, I’ll be in your care.”

 

Thus your apprenticeship under Asra began.

 

A/N: Sorry if this wasn’t what you expected. Fluff will come in one of the later Asra Tales. I’m making an attempt( Albeit a shoddy one) to build relationships. Yes they will be one-shots but the one shots will be connected as in: All the Asra ones are connected and are POSSIBLE events that will happen in the time you are staying as their Assistant/ Apprentice. Kinda multiverse if you will? I know not a good explanation. XD


	3. Julian Tail 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julian is the one that rescued you! The doctor will see you now.

The being on who the shimmering crimson tail belonged to approached you, cutting you loose from your restraints. “Can’t have you dying on us now dear.” The being spoke, somewhat teasingly as he pressed a vial against your lips, making you drink a bitter fluid. “ You’ll feel a lot better trust me dear. “

He watched as your legs slowly fused and morphed into a white sparkly mermaid tail, the scales formed on your tail as well as a couple on your side and a couple just behind your ears. Your breathing slowly stabilized as you were completely reconfigured to be able to live underwater.

“Now let’s get you comfortable.” The man spoke, swimming further into the depths of the water with you in his arms. While swimming he noticed a particular scent. The scent of herbs. It made him feel at ease despite being on guard in case anyone followed him. Through several twists, turns and caves he swam until he emerged in what seemed to be a town, his house right next to the hidden passage.

Not wasting any time he got you into the house, placing you on his couch, carefully examining you to make sure that there were no injuries or other things that caught his attention. “ Hmm perhaps. .. Wouldn’t be wise though… but on the other end why not?” Not that he had much time to debate whatever he was debating about as he could hear you stir, slowly waking up from your near death experience.

“ Oh my head… wait.. I’m alive?” You looked yourself over. You seemed to be in one piece but there were a couple of things _different_ about you, the scales on your body and the fact that instead of the two legs you had you now had one white scaled mermaid tail. “I-is.. A tail? Oh wow. Fascinating. “

“Is it? Well considering you used to be a human not even moments before, I suppose it is. “ The merman smiled as he swam over to you. “ Welcome to my lovely abode, I am Julian Devorak, a doctor if you will.. and may I have the pleasure of knowing your name?” He raised his eyebrow, curious to know your name. You extended your hand to him, introducing yourself. “ A pleasure to meet you” He smiled “ Well then, why was someone such as you sinking to the bottom of the sea? Not something you would do with your limbs restrained out of free will now would you? Well not without being prepared after all?...”

“ You guessed correctly. I was tricked by some people. A group of travelling merchants. They offered me a room on their ship since they were headed the same place that I was. It was that or waiting another week for a ship. I really wanted to cross the ocean as there were herbs that were native to the other lands that I needed as I was running low on them… so I …was stupid and accepted. I missed every single red flag that told me that I was doing something stupid and took their offer. The burst into my room at night, tied me up and took whatever they wished from my luggage… then threw me overboard as I myself was of no use to them.”

Silently, Julian listened to you. A frown on his face as he didn’t wish a lonely death by drowning on anyone. “ Quite unfortunate that is… indeed…. Then I found you. You were near death when I found you and I saw no other choice but to turn you into one of our own. It was that or let you die and as a doctor… the choice was easily made. Not to mention that taking that pretty face away from the world already would be a downright waste.” The crimson tailed mermaid grinned you. “Since you have no way of returning nor any income I have suggestion. “

The man pointed one finger at you. “ You become my assistant… Seeing as you have some knowledge of herbs and the like I believe that would be a good start for you. What say you?”

“ I accept.. I know little of herbs that grow deep on the seabed however… I hope I can be of help.” You smiled at him as he took your hand, placing a kiss on the top. “Oh I’m sure you will be.. for now however let’s get you adapted to your tail. “

“That sounds like a good idea.. Mr. Devorak.” Julian shook his head. “ Just Julian will do. Now then let’s get started.” The mermaid held his hands out to you, taking hold of your hands as you placed yours on his.” I understand it must feel a tad foreign as you used to have a pair of human legs… but try to move your tail like me to move forward. Try to push the water with just your tail

It sounded easy but was much harder than you could have imagined. Your mind was still attempting to move two now nonexistent legs instead of your tail resulting in your tail only slightly twitching instead of how it was supposed to move. “Not a big deal! Keep trying” Julian encouraged you, pulling you forward by your hands. “Try again.”

“ Ok… don’t expect too much of it though.” You muttered as you focused you felt the tail slowly move in a wavy way.”  Oh that’s good! Keep going.. try to feel it in your muscles and make it your own.” Nodding you kept trying to focus and move your tail. But you had to admit it was taking a lot out of you. But being stubborn you tried to keep going.  

Seeing how much you were exerting yourself Julian stopped you, sitting you down on the couch again.” That’s quite enough for now.. wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself now would you??” He flashed you a smile, pushing you back down when you tried to rise from your seat. “ Ah. No no. None of that. You tried to swim now you rest and I will hear no ‘Buts’. If you strain yourself too much you might find yourself taking a step back instead of forward so for now you stay seated. Doctor’s orders."

Thus began your days with Doctor Julian Devorak.


End file.
